Shards of your voice
by Wallagen
Summary: "As i took everything away from myself, the only thing i had left were my lost feelings for you."
1. Chapter 1

**Shards of your voice: Chapter 1: ...**

* * *

Where were they?

That was their first thought, as far as they remembered. It was possible they had asked themselves the question before, but the answer couldn't be much different from their current guess. Their sight was met with nothing but empty space, stretching as far back, up and down as their vision would let them see. They could tell they weren't blind as they could faintly pick up dark red patterns that painted the darkness around them. Were they unconscious? Could you even have dreams about theorizing about being unconscious while actually being it? It seemed unlikely, so they cast the thought aside. Relying on uncertainty diddn't seem so wise. They didn't think they were dreaming, as they felt too _aware_ of everything for this to be a dream.

Were they dead?

It didn't seem too out there. After all, they were stuck in an endless void, it could easily be the afterlife. Their soul and consciousness were the only thing they were sure they had, as they felt as "awake" as a supposedly dead person could be. They didn't exactly see or feel a body either, if they ever had one to begin with. Not that they remembered how they died.

What did they remember?

They tried to recollect their memory. Possible name? They had no clue. Former appearance? Nothing came to mind. Previous life, any experiences at all? Again, nothing came to-

No thats not right.

There was one memory, a sentence spoken by someone, that remained engraved in their mind.

"No, please! Stop!"

The voice scared them. It was at a decent high pitch and it sounded like it was yelling, begging, crying for... for something.

Was this their final moment? Was it their own voice, pleading for mercy before they ended up here? It was certainly possible, but it didn't _feel_ right. Something was off about the memory, it felt important. More important than one's only memory would normally be at least. Have they remembered this before? We're they stuck in an infinite loop of revelation and speculation?

Not like there was anything else to do when you're stuck in the presumed afterlife. They mentally sighed and once again looked over the dark horizons, stretching as far as they could see. They supposed they could go "blood coloured cloud-gazing" to distract themselves until something came to mind. The dark red spots on the vast null all moved around independently and yet, there was still something symbiotic about them. They moved at the same speed and were all cloudy and somewhat thin in nature.

It was ridiculous how bored they were. Was this all life, or rather the afterlife, was about? It could only have been 3 minutes since they begun staring at clouds and the "activity", if you could call it that, was so monotonous they were already sick of it. Not to mention that irritating sound of glass rattling from somewhere that broke their concentration.

Where was that stressing noise coming from anyway? They turned their field of view around and searched for the source of it. They looked around for some time, until they spotted something. It wasn't easy to make out, but there was no mistaking it. Tiny white speckles of light were floating in midair, sticking out like a sore thumb in the otherwise complete darkness. It reminded them of small cracks on a window, with their lightning-like shape and glass-like sound when suddenly appearing. It intrigued them. What did this light mean? Was it common to see, what looked like scars in reality, in this dimension? Could it help them get out?

Their train of thought went on about this until they realised that the fracturing and the sound that followed had stopped. They felt disappointed, but remained hopeful, so they waited fully determined that the cracks would reappear again soon. Not that they had much else to do. What felt like a minute passed and the void was still completely silent. Did this only happen rarely? Would the fissures of light in front of them soon start to disappear? They knew that if they did, their hope would most likely disappear with-

Their thoughts were immediatly cast aside as another light cut through the darkness. They were excited to then see another one, this one much larger than the previous ones.

And then everything exploded.

Suddenly, everything fell apart and white light bursted from the cracks, engulfing them in an extreme blast of energy. They felt no pain as their vision was blinded by the intense light, that then suddenly changed into patterns of sharp red and blue colours. A deafening roar cried out, overwhelming them as they felt their very existence quiver. They collected themselves and stared at the vortex in front of them. If there was any time to escape the previous nothingness, it was now. They summoned up all their willpower and slowly pulled themselves towards the now open window out of here. They felt the vortex suddenly gripping at them and then inhale them as they were pulled through.

They Saw nothing but pitchblack darkness.

Darkness.

Darkness.

…

…

…

…

And then...

…

Light.

Suddenly, they felt very, very tired.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading the first chapter of this little story I'm writing. This is my first fic, so please, do leave a review and criticism so that I can write something better in the future. If you have a question, please don't be afraid to ask as well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Innocence**

* * *

The first feeling they felt was warmth. The second was feeling the weight of their body. The third was feeling nauseous.

They realised they were awake and slightly opened their eyes. Their sight was met with blades of grass, darkened by a big shadow looming over them. They noticed a white gloved hand resting in the grass next to them. They stared at it for a couple of seconds before they realised they had their senses back. It was their hand. They slowly raised themselves and opened their eyes fully to greet the world they awoke in. They were in the shadow of a tree, standing by the edge of a forest in a decently sized clearing. Nearby, there was a lake that stretched a good distance before it turned around the forest's thick woods, the water reflecting the sturdy logs and the explosive dark green crowns of the trees. They gazed at the lake, wondering if their own reflection would appear. They slowly inched closer to the bank and looked down onto the mirror-like surface.

Their head had a round shape that ended in a refined curved jaw, around where their mouth was. They had a big regal looking collar around their neck that was coloured in shades of copper and magenta, complete with a golden rim and heart shaped crystals. They were definitely female. On the top of their head were two red antennae, dangling downwards, slightly twitching a little bit out of sheer curiosity. However, what they couldn't get over was their eyes. The two gigantic orbs that were shining at her like round amethysts with shades of indigo from the waters under her, ending in vivid eyelashes with supporting makeup.

Overall, she was quite pretty.

She leaned more in towards the water to get more of a glimpse of her body. She seemed to have an affinity for gold, blue and pink, as the rest of their body was laden with it. It didn't look too bad. On the middle of her torso was a pink, heart shaped crest that went well with her otherwise ridiculous collar. She noticed some golden lines running down and outwards behind her back. Instinctively, her back-muscles reacted and made the lines tense upwards a bit. She reacted with trying to pinpoint the exact muscles and extended the lines out fully. Her overall statue grew as four golden wings expanded from her body, surprising her a little bit in the process. She continued extending the wings and took in the sight. The wings were reflecting the sun in a beautiful golden shine that made the intricate design really stand out to her. She breathed in the fresh air and took in all of the sun's warmth. It dawned on her. She was alive.

She looked down at the short patch of grass they slept on earlier. Close to the tree right by where her head had laid, there was something made of metal, lying on its side in the lonesome shadow. Wondering what it was, she floated towards the spot and reached to pick it up, bringing it into the light. It was a shiny crown, made completely out of yellow and light blue crystals, complete with a heart-like pink ruby in the middle, now glowing with radiance from sunlight. She put it on the top of her head and turned back around to her reflection. She certainly looked like royalty, maybe she was a princess? But, then again, there was the possibility that the crown wasn't hers. Did she steal it? Or maybe she was just carrying it like a treasure from a distant, buried past. Nevertheless, she took the crown off and looked at it again. Besides the issue of its legitimacy, wearing it made her feel...bad, for whatever reason. She hid the crown away and took a final look at her makeshift mirror. She much preferred the crownless forehead. Her cheeks rose as she gave herself a little smile. She couldn't remember the last time she did.

Quietly, but not subtlety, small ripples pulsated through the water and hit the bank, making them bounce off and make the water turmoil. She was a bit surprised when her reflection broke as the water moved, reacting by looking up and down the river, searching for the source of the waters movements. Further down the river, a small orange creature was sitting down with a fishing pole and fishing for lunch with a relaxed attitude. Their body was mostly covered with a sand coloured, mask like face that sported two narrow eyes. On the side of their body were two orange stumps that was gripping the fishing pole firmly. She remembered that some creatures had their hands directly connected to their bodies. She didn't think the child could levitate either. She got herself together and meekly went down the bank to approach the child. She was well aware of her size compared to them, but if she acted nicely and kind and had a gentle attitude, surely a question or two wouldn't do any harm, right? About five meters away, she stopped and spoke:

"E-excuse me?"

Immediatly, an overwhelming wave of regret and awkwardness engulfed her. In truth, she had surprised herself hearing how loud and direct her voice was, or even how her voice sounded at all. But her surprise could not compare to the now apparant fear in the Childs face. They had turned around to see who asked them, but when their eyes fell upon her, their pupils immediatly shrunk as they accidently dropped the fishing pole into the river from pure shock and started quivering in fear on the spot. The child began to stutter as he moved backwards towards the forrest, tears starting to form in his eyes.

She wasn't _that_ bad was she?

She chose to continue: "..Im sorry for interupting your fishing, but.."

"H-h-h-h-h- _sniffle_ -h-h"

She felt terrible. She had obviously scared him greatly if he was crying and stammering this much. Perhaps she should try to reintroduc-

"H-HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP"

All of the sudden the kid turned around and ran away, leaving a trail of dust and tears behind their wake. She barely had time to react before she shouted her next words.

"No please! Stop!"

Her words echoed in her mind. All of the sudden, her world fell apart. A terrible headache overcame her as the nausia from before returned in full force. Her balance failed her, as she fell to the ground clutching her head. In her mind, a muffled voice spoke sentences to her.

"...ope You..ike it!.."

"...Your choi...nd.."

"I'm...orried ab...You...nia"

"No please! Stop!"

It was the voice. Her only memory. And yet, there was more this time. More variety, more details. More heart. Though her head was hurting like hell, she understood it clearly now, the voice was not hers. But that wasn't all. She remembered something else. She remembered seeing the beautiful full moon on a starry night. The giant celestial body glowing with a pale and yet serene light. It was breathtaking. So why does she remember feeling so _sad and restricted?_

After taking a few breaths, she recollected herself and looked up. The orange kid from earlier was nowhere to see, still long gone. She tried standing upright again, wavering a little before getting herself fully together. The headache was gone, but she didn't feel totally fresh yet. Brushing off the dirt from her dress and gloves, she then took another look around the Lake area. Taking a glance down the river, she noticed no towns or buildings in the immediate area. She looked to the sky and tried to read the time from the sun. It hadn't begun setting yet, but it was clearly more westbound than a midday sun would be. In a few hours, the sun would start to decline for sure and then she would be stuck in the middle of the night, inside the forest, without shelter or food. In the distance, a sea of clouds were traversing the sky, moving slowly across the world's ceiling, drawing closer to her. She looked at the path the child had run down earlier. If the kid had ran this way, surely civilization wouldn't be too far off right? It was a risk they had to take, and it was in the opposite direction of the looming rain clouds, so she figured it was her best option of choice. She began gently gliding down the path as her back embraced the warm sun.

* * *

Rain. Rain, rain, rain and more downpour. She was going as fast as she could, while being completely drenched in water. Her otherwise extravagant cowl was now just another heavy sack of her wet outfit that was weighing her down. Her golden wings barely moved as she rushed through the forest, despite her apparent weakness. Looking to the sky, she could barely make out the outline of a huge mountain in front of her. She stayed her path and came to a small clearing right next to the mountainside. She desperately looked at the rock clad wall for any sign of life. Suddenly, her thinking cleared as she spotted a small opening in the mountains sturdy walls. Reacting immediately, she began flying towards it, despite her growing sense of tiredness.

But her wings couldn't do it. When she was almost at the caves entrance, her wings gave up from the low temperature of the rain and from overuse. She started falling, but her hands caught onto the cliff in a weakened grip. She had no time to take a breather as the sediment was beginning to fall apart from her weight. With every muscle in her body screaming at her, she managed to first pull up her right side, then her left. It Took every single centimeter of what stamina was left in her to stand up in a slumped over position and scramble herself inside the opening.

The cave was disappointingly small, as she could barely fit, but it would have to do. She had started to really hate her big form. Sure, it looked graceful and nice in her prime, but so far it had done more harm than good. She laid down on the hard, rocky floor as she looked at her hands. The gloves were torn in several places from gripping the wet, yet sharp, rocks and blood had sprung from one of the tears. She reached for her cowl and slowly took it off with shaking, freezing hands, trying to get some of her wet clothing off.

Suddenly, the Wind changed and started blowing the rain inside. She then hugged herself in a desperate attempt to warm herself and to stop shaking. She felt warmth, but only slowly flowing down her cheeks. She had started crying and was now whimpering loudly. She was pathetic. She wanted to die. She wanted to go back to that empty void without pain, suffering or coldness.

She doesn't remember when she passed out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Loyalty**

* * *

She awakened from getting sun in her eyes.

Her eyes weakly opened up and she stared at the cave's entrance. Being filled with water and wind earlier, her little "shelter" was now filled with warm and inviting rays of light. For a couple of minutes, she didn't want to move. It would be too much effort, no matter how morning grumpy that sounded. Therefore, she laid still on the uneven and sturdy floor, feeling the warm embrace of the burning sun slowly heating her up. She was thankful that she wasn't sick, at least, she didn't feel like she was. Heavens know what she might have caught from that storm yesterday. At least she had a place to relax.

Suddenly, a painful noise spread out inside the small opening. Her stomach was crying, desperate for food of any kind. Of course, she thought. She hadn't eaten at all since she woke up under that tree the other day.

She picked up her cowl, that was now completely dry from laying perfectly in the sun's rays, and put it on her neck again as she shoved herself off the ground and forced herself to the cave's entrance. She scouted out over the forest. The trees all seemed dried out, completely without moisture despite the heavy downpour from yesterday. Puzzled by this, she looked to the sky to see the sun past midday again. She had been sleeping for a very long time. Her stomach growled again, reminding her of the hunger that was eating her up. She looked once more at the mass of trees below her. One of the trees had apples growing from their branches. Perfect, she thought. She wanted to fly down, but her wings were still too strained to fly. Perhaps she could glide down? She's have to force the wings to be stretched, but other than that it seemed plausible.

She stood upright, prepared for flight. If this failed, she would plummet to the ground, a good 20 meters below her. She decided not to think of that any longer. Slowly, yet carefully, she raised her four wings out in a stretched position. This was it. Flight or fight as they said.

She threw her weight over the cliff side. Slowly, she floated downwards, steering her body towards the apple tree. Right before reaching the ground, she beat her wings backwards a little bit to smoothen out her landing. The pain that then spread through her wings made her wince, but she didn't think too much of it as the fresh juicy apples were now right in her reach.

Her hands moved over to the nearest one and, with a little force, pulled it off its stalk. She turned it around in her hands a couple of times before taking as big of a bite as she could. It was delicious, probably the best apple she ever had. She continued digging in, reaching down to the apples core. She wiped off some of the fruit juice that had settled on her lips with her gloved hand, as she finished off the apple. Her stomach wasn't exactly filled, but she felt some energy return to her spirit. Throwing the apple core away, she handpicked two more of the fresh fruit and stored them away for later.

Walking back to the mountainside, she looked at her temporary resting place one last time, before taking a sharp turn left and continued to head down the path she ran on yesterday. She still felt weak, no doubt about it, but her stomachache was gone at least. The sun was high and there were no other clouds than clean snow white stripes that decorated the sky as a beautiful detail. For the first time since she woke up yesterday, she felt a satisfying feeling of...genuine hope.

* * *

After walking down the dirt path for what seemed like a couple of hours, she was beginning to feel a bit excited. The road had begun to widen up a lot and she took it as a sign that she was close to a little town or a city, perhaps. Colorful and pretty flowers had begun popping up by the wayside, neatly organized in a straight line, further suggesting civilization. Admittedly, ever since the young child had ran away from her, she felt a bit lonely. It would be nice to have someone to actually talk to, without people running away in fear.

A strange figure down the road caught her attention. It was small and thin, with a little spike on top. As she came closer, she realized the figure was a road sign. Gears turned inside her otherwise famished mind and she came to the conclusion that whatever that sign said, it was important. Excitement returned at full force as the young woman flew over to the sign. Pointing to the left, it read:

"Castle Dedede"

What a weird name she thought. She did like the sound of a castle though, for whatever reason. Maybe that's where...

She pulled the crystalized crown out, staring at it for a few seconds. Could the crown be from this castle? The people of it must be missing their crown pretty badly then. Maybe she was the princess of this castle? The thought was ambitious to be sure, but she couldn't help but like the idea. Maybe she was a tad selfish.

Straightening herself out, she felt a sudden strong gust of wind blow past her. A bit surprised by this, she looked around searching, rapidly turning her head.

"Hello?" She called out. No answer. Shrugging for herself, she turned around and began heading down the path towards the castle again. Where did that breeze come from? It hadn't been windy all day, so this wind was a bit out of-

"Queen Sectonia."

She stopped. The voice was deep, authoritative and demanding, clearly trying to catch her attention. Was it really her name it spoke? After a brief second of shock, she turned around.

And instantly froze in fear.

* * *

Taranza was having a pretty nice day so far. The sun was shining brightly on this spring day and the rain from yesterday was long gone. Strolling through the streets and having just finished assisting with cleaning up at the castle, he was heading down to the local café for a nice cup of lunchtime tea to relax himself with. Not that cleaning at the castle was exhausting or anything, but it sure as hell helped clearing his head. It was tradition in Dreamland to celebrate at Castle Dedede after saving the world, yet again, from certain destruction and the most recent alien invasion had been no different. The party yesterday was definitely the best of the three he was invited to.

He didn't go to the first one.

He stared down into his porcelain cup he had ordered for a minute. He had found his usual spot, alone beside the window. It was hard to believe it was one and a half year ago since that day. That one day where the beautiful Dreamstalk grew and bloomed in the same span of 24 hours. Thinking back on it, he couldn't stand how otherwise... _pretty_ that day and night had been.

A single teardrop hit the lukewarm drink. He shook his head and looked away, from no one in particular. "No, don*t do it again. Stop crying. Keep it together you wuss", he mentally scolded himself. It was no secret that Taranza was often sad. Few people knew how much. Fewer knew why. He had told himself that he was over it. He had to have been over it.

Someone banging on the window he was sitting by suddenly startled him. Quickly turning his attention, he was pleasantly surprised to see one of his friends, recognizable by the blue cloth wrapped around their head. Standing by the window, he appeared to be completely out breath. The six-handed spider used one of his left hands to open up the window. He would have to try to hide the fact that he had been crying when he greeted him.

"H-Hi there, Bandana. What brings you here" He failed. Of course he did. He always failed. Nevertheless, the young Waddle Dee didn't seem to take notice, being too much in a hurry.

"Ta- _wheeze_ -Taranza. There is..There is something I need to tell you _pant_." It's...Meta Knight"

He was curious. What did he mean about "Meta Knight"? Taranza had spoken to the stern warrior on few occasions, but apparently that was common.

"Hmm? What about him?" He inquired, taking another sip of his tea, now with a subtle salty flavor added to it.

"A young waddle went to Meta, scared out of his mind, late yesterday. ..He said that he had been attacked and chased by a "giant girly wasp." Meta Knight thinks its..."

But the young spear wielder didn't get his chance to elaborate, as Taranza simply stopped listening. It couldn't be true, could it? He hastely interrupted him by grabbing on to the railing of the window.

"Where is she?! H-He?" He felt bad for shouting at the boy, but he had to know. If what he said was true, then...

"Uh-uhm, he took off to the forest! He told me to report it to the King first but I-"

"Bandana, I need you to do something for me"

"Huh?"

Vigorously, the spider dug through his pockets and pulled out a bill decorated with a blue star on it.

"I need you to pay for this tea here."

"But that's-"

"It doesn't matter, just keep the rest. I really have to go! Thanks!"

And with that, he took to the window and flew straight out of the narrow opening, right past his perpetually surprised and confused friend. He headed towards the forest on the outskirts of town, flying as fast as his body would let him. Entering the woods through the main path, he rapidly darted his eyes around to search for any sign of the winged swordsman. Confronting Meta Knight was something he hoped he wouldn't have to do. Taranza was no slouch when it came to fighting, but the knight outclassed him in every way possible. When it came down to it, Meta Knight let no one stand between him and his goal. Fully understanding the contradiction in searching for someone he did not want to stand against, his rushing head came up with a different plan. He had no hope of catching up to the masked warrior to begin with, but if he got there first he may have a chance of doing whatever he was throwing himself into. If the caped crusader got there first, however...

Taranza hoped to everything that that wouldn't happen.

* * *

She was completely paralyzed. All her rational thinking had ceased completely. Internally, she was screaming at her body to move, to run, but it would not respond. Instead, the only thing it would do was stand frozen in complete terror and stare at the demon in front of her.

Even though the person she was facing was much smaller than she was, she could not stop shaking in fear. It's yellow eyes that kept a stern watch on her drilled through her soul and shook her very core. The rest of its face was covered in a metal plate with a long dark blue cape engulfing the rest of its body, hiding its appearance. Why was she so damn scared of this thing? Why did looking at it give her a massive headache? She did not know. She was to caught up in the moment to even dare question it. It's glare did not falter in the slightest, as it spoke again:

"You have made an unwise decision to appear in these peaceful lands, Tyrant. Tell me, how did you return from the dead?"

His voice was rough, yet refined and deep. She had no idea what he was talking about, but even if she did she would not have been able to get a word past her lips, with her teeth rattling this much. Finally, she mustered up the instinctive willpower to take a step back, almost falling over in the process. Her head was starting to throb from pain. She wanted to run. To turn her back around and flee as far away from this...this _monster_ as she could. The demon's voice spat at her as he continued.

"You refuse to answer then? Very well, I too shall let my actions speak for me!"

Suddenly grabbing his coat, he twisted it around his body and threw the cape behind him to reveal his weapon. The warrior wielded a short golden sword that burned with energy. It's blade twisted and turned around itself, having several edges in a powerful and demanding design. He pointed the sword at her as he yelled; "Prepare yourself! I shall make sure this is the last time that you return to terrorize the defenseless!"

Suddenly, a new feeling was slowly filling her body. She looked down at her hands when a weird sense made them feel as if they were overflowing with heat. The tear in her skin on her left ring finger stung a little, but she was too caught up with this strange feeling to give it too much notice. She looked back up to look for the knight, only to immediately regret it as those glowing yellow eyes stared her down again. He had started to approach her, blade ready to strike at any moment's notice, and was now a much shorter distance away than previously. The sensation was growing stronger, making her hands give off little sparks of energy. This felt weird. It felt like nothing she had ever felt before. It was like she was holding the void in her palms. She was thrown out of her trance by the sound of the knight's footsteps speeding up. He was charging her, blade at his side waiting to slice. Starting to panic again, she threw her arms towards her aggressor, closed her eyes and yelled at him, interrupting him mid-sentence.

"GO AWAY!"

From the middle of her palms, small, unstable orbs of light shot out, flying out in every direction before losing stability and exploding into small smoke fumes. The several failed attempts at some form of magic collected into a massive cloud that blocked the way between the knight and herself. Surprising herself for a second, she eventually realized the window of opportunity she had created, turned her back and ran as fast as she could. With tears in her eyes blurring her vision, she went as fast as she could in her weakened state, but the knight did not give up in his pursuit. Suddenly zooming past her overhead, the swordsman had grown dark blue and skinny bat-like wings himself, carrying his weight with ease. As he sped past, he performed a shuttle loop in the air, before turning around and began diving her. She had to move out of way, fast. Escaping from the experienced airborne fighter would be impossible in an open area like this. In a split-second decision, she turned towards the thick forestation and fled into the trees.

Not even daring to look back, she flew with as much speed as her body could muster. Making sure to do as many random turns as possible, she desperately tried to get far, far away from the open road. In the corner of her eye, she spotted a shadow in the woods. Before she knew it, a white shine of a golden blade sliced at the tree in front of her, barely missing her face a few millimeters off. Instantly startled, she ran left from the tree, now cleanly cut in half, and kept on running. Her wings took quite the beating from colliding with all the trees branches, but she was too affected by the adrenaline coursing through her veins to notice it. Another tree was cut down in front of her, as the shadow struck once more, pushing her away from area. The shadow seemed to running circles around her as it continuously chopped tree after tree down, making sure never to let up the offense. She was getting very, very tired, not only of running, but of crying as well. But she had to keep running, even if it wasn't working. Heel turning from another close call with the sharp end of a sword, she found a new forrest path to run down until...

She reappeared in another clearing, not unlike the one she woke up in. She stopped and looked around in confusion. She was back on the road. How did she get here? She had been running away from the path, not towards it! The shadow suddenly bursted out of the woods, performing a backwards landing in front of her. His iron boots dug through the loose gravel as his wings fully stretched out to stop his momentum. His yellow glare stared her down with a content expression burning behind his cold mask. She realized what had happened. He had guided her right back out of the forest by scaring her, manipulating the direction she ran.

Now being in an open space like this again, her plan of trying to hide had been completely shattered. She was at her wits end at what to do. Her breathing had become heavy and she was both physically and mentally exhausted. The feeling of power from earlier was gone, no more smoke tricks to perform anymore. The swordsman charged her again, presumably for the last time. This was it. Fight or flight, as they said.

And she chose flight.

Using every inch of will she had left, she extended her wings and skyrocketed upwards. Up, up and away she forced her wings. She was pushing herself to the limit, growing fainter by the second. She looked back down and nearly screamed when she saw the knight was still after her. She turned her away and somehow made herself fly even faster than before. She was reaching for the clouds. But they were so far away. Her masked pursuer out sped her greatly, as he overtook her with relative ease. Performing one last shuttle loop, the warrior gracefully twisted himself above her and around in midair, before aiming down towards her and letting gravity do the rest of work as he dive kicked her with insane force, instantly slamming her downwards towards the ground.

Her crash landing was anything but soft. Hitting the ground way too fast, her momentum carried on as she roller and spun several times through the rough gravel, only coming to a stop when her body slid across the road and dug into the sea of small pebbles. Painfully opening her eyes, she saw the knight had landed again and was approaching her. With her entire body shaking violently, she attempted to push herself up with her wavering hands. An earthshattering jolt of pain struck through her body, causing it to plummet down into the dirt again. Her consciousness was starting to fade again. She glanced at her lowered left wing, feeling it pulsate with agony. Bent in an unnatural way, the wing was without a doubt broken.

"Resistance is futile. You are defeated."

Her basic survival instinct refused however and tried to push her away, across the ground, but the loose stones gave under and she merely shoved pebbles away in place. The knight held his sword in front of his face as he continued;

"For your crimes against Dreamland, Florelia and Popstar..." He twisted the blade in his hand, now holding it over his head. This was it. She had nowhere to run. No power to fight back. No one to save her. Her eyes were barely open as she took her last glance at the world she wanted to see more of.

"...I sentence you...to death!"

Her memory of the next events are blurry. She saw something glowing with a sharp purple color tackle the knight at full speed, blasting him away. A new figure now stood in front of her with it's back turned against her, sizing itself up while yelling at her attacker. The person at her side had silvery white hair with two orange tips growing out of it. Several ominous sparks floated around it as it prepared for a counterattack, should an initiating one be fired. Everything was going white. The last thing she remembers was two slightly tinted white eyes looking at her with an extremely worried expression. Her eyes blinked as her vision started to fade, whitening out completely in a bright light...

...

Light...

...

Light...

...

Light...

...

And then...

...

...

Total Darkness.

* * *

 **AN: Hello everyone. Thank you for reading chapter 3. Or skimming it, thats fine too. Im writing at the bottom of this chapter to inform you that my schedule for the next week is looking _pretty tight,_ so i apologize if the next chapter is in a while.**

On a more positive note, Taranza finally found his best friend again! Though not exactly in the state he was expecting, but its certainly better than nothing. Next chapter will explore a bit more about Sectonia's memory loss.

 **Sleep tight, borbs!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Open**

* * *

Noise. The first thing that made her realize she was awake was a loud eerie noise. It took her a few seconds to realize that the sound was air blowing past her. She felt heavy. Her body felt…different somehow. It was hard to describe. Her vision was starting to fade in, becoming less blurry. A roof of sorts came into her view. Her eyes were met with a dimly lit dome of pink and yellow colors. Where were she now? The design of the dome was intricate and eye-catching, filled with hearts and gear-like white lines that made for a pretty sight. The dome swayed with the wind blowing at its thin walls from outside, sending chills down her spine.

She felt the roof over her. It was part of her.

A sudden feeling of being wrapped up overtook her. She didn't like being in this thing at all. She tried to move her wings, but they too felt heavier than before. They felt different. Bigger. Sturdier, yet thinner. Nevertheless, they wouldn't move. She tried again to get her wings to beat, if only just a little. Nothing happened. She couldn't feel her back muscles, or any muscles at all. It was as if her entire body was rearranged. Rewritten.

She shook herself in struggle. The domes construction came apart a little and brilliant blue glittering light lit up the little room. Almost instinctively seeking more of the light, she kept on moving her body. She still felt the individual petal-like sections react to her movement. They felt as if they were connected somehow to her. She stopped and tried to get a good grasp on the husk that wrapped around her. She felt the essence of herself from her back to the tips of the five thin limbs, now more aware of the chilling breeze outside of her shell. She stopped thrashing about. This wasn't working. There had to be a better way to "open up", right?

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and calmed her mind for a few seconds. As if it was second nature to her, she felt the veins in her back react a little bit and began to retract. She opened her eyes slightly. The walls around her were opening up and stretching themselves out.

A starlit scene came into her view. A pale shining moon, brightening up the beautiful night as if it was midday, decorated the luminous night sky. She was very high up, far above the clouds. The chilling wind blew across the white masses far below her, kicking up the clouds as if it was snow dust. A massive dark shadow spread across the white field below her. It was long and thin, ending in the rough shape of a star with several cobweb-like lines behind it. It was confusing. Where was this massive thing? Wanting to look around, she felt an intense pressure on her body as it slowly turned. It felt as if the entire world shook with her movements. A series of floating isles, sitting mesmerizingly still in midair, came into her view, the closest of them completely wrapped in thick vegetation. The vines that was covering the castle like structure's residing on the island were bulky and sturdy, constricting the structure in an unrelenting bind. She could feel the castle. She could feel the world. She followed the pathway of the seemingly infinite flora, looking down as all the vines came together into one collected mass of a flower stem. It continued upwards.

She was stuck in a gigantic flower.

No.

She was the flower.

Now she was panicking. She started to struggle again, her mind not thinking clearly, as she thrashed about and pulled herself as hard as she could. She wanted to get out. She wanted to see the world around her again, not be trapped in this beautiful prison. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a howling screech that echoed into the night endlessly.

But nobody would hear her.

…

…

…

She instantly woke up.

Opening her eyes quietly, but quickly, they were now fully widened from the horrible nightmare. Breathing heavily, her eyesight met with her left hand, laying before her on a messy bedsheet. She was alive, somehow. Still in pain, but anything but dead.

She was lying in a wide bed with a thick blanket over her, keeping her decently warm. She raised herself up, ignoring her now apparent bruises, and looked around the room she was in. The walls and roof were shaped like an igloo with a little window on her right. It was daytime. Around the room was a small desk with a lamp and multiple stacks of papers and folders on top, and an equally small bookshelf with a little healthy plant in a clay pot.

Where was she? The last thing she remembers was people yelling at each other in front of her, while she was laying in the dirt and bleeding. Unintentionally reminding her of her wounds, she pushed the warm blanket off her and looked at herself. Her clothing looked torn in several places, but most of the holes along with her wounds was covered in well-wrapped bandage. Her back was extremely sore, reminding her of the strong kick that shot her down into the ground. She then realized her apparent drowsiness made her take things not as seriously as she probably should. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she decided she did not want to lie in this bed all day, wounded or not. It was comfortable though.

Shoving herself of the bed, she instantly regretted moving at all as a sharp wave of fresh pain overtook her, causing her to inhale a sharp breath through gritted teeth. She almost fell over, only barely catching herself with her hands on the wooden floor. Her wing was burning. She turned her head, trying her hardest to ignore the pain as she twisted her torso around to get the wing into better view. The wing itself wasn't bent at an awkward angle anymore, but it was instead covered partially in several layers of bandages, weighing it down quite a bit on top of the pain. It felt like a nuisance, but she convinced herself that it was necessary. Trying to get up again, her balance faltered several times before she could levitate decently without causing too much pressure on her damaged appendage. She took a deep breath. She would get through this. First, she had to know where she was though. Looking around again, a door was standing to her left. The door was a little on the small side of things, but it was a tad bit larger than the rest of the objects in the room. Besides the giant bed of course.

The door looked so inviting. It practically begged her to open it, to see the rest of the world. Pushing any painful feeling aside, she slowly approached her exit.

" _What?! You can't be serious!"_

She froze. Somebody was yelling at someone else. Their tone was clearly upset, even more apparent from the sound of hands slamming a table. But that was not what caught her attention.

It was the voice.

It was **the** voice.

The same voice that was stuck in her mind.

Her only memory.

Her only clue.

More curious than ever, she carefully glided over, focusing her hearing towards and beyond the door. She had to be careful not to make a sound. Wouldn't want the people out there find out she was spying on them.

A different voice spoke

"… _.I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do about this._ "

" _But can't you see the hypocrisy? What about Magolor? He tried to take over the entire_ _ **universe,**_ _WILLINGLY, but he gets away scot-free because he feels sorry about it?"_

This confused her...Taking over the universe? And they let this supposed conqueror go free? What kind of over the top society did she end up in? The voice was certainly upset about it.

"… _The circumstances here are different."_

" _How? The only thing that's remotely different in this case is you not giving her an opportunity to speak for herself! I refuse letting them treat her differently from me!"_

She was taken aback. The last part was practically yelled out, paving way for a wave of now complete silence. Was it her the two beyond the door were arguing about? The voice from her memory seemed to be arguing for her case, clearly overwhelming the other, more deep voice. The argument seemed to have stopped now. The lower pitched voice finally spoke.

"… _it's been a long day for you. I suggest you check up on her condition and then go to bed early. I will speak with the king about this matter to find a definitive answer."_

The sound of a chair pushing across the floor filled the room, followed by heavy footsteps that clanged with an iron-like noise. The footsteps eventually stopped as the deep voice continued.

" _Taranza."_

A brief moment of silence, one she patiently waited to end. She needed more details. Who was this "Taranza?" Was it their home? The name of the voice? Did she know them?

" _You have presented me with the ideology that everyone deserves a second chance, no matter their sins…..I trust you to convince me of this philosophy."_

"… _.I will."_

" _Good. Farewell."_

A door closed on the other side. She could hear the remaining party sigh loudly before fiddling with what sounded like silverware and plates. Then the clattering stopped. The sound of silence took over again. It remained that way for a while, but she did not stop listening. It eventually payed off as she started hearing unidentifiably quiet noises from the other room. She wondered for a brief moment what they could be, her antennae subconsciously twitching to measure in on the sound. It sounded like…..stuttered breaths. The weird inhaling and muttering increased until it finally clicked for her.

They were crying.

She didn't know what to do. She couldn't obviously barge in like she understood, but she desperately wanted to help. Even though they haven't actually talked, or at least as far as she knows, she felt a sort of connection to the one bearing the voice that was stuck in her memories. She certainly felt bad sitting by the door and just listening to the voice sobbing all alone. She raised her hand and curled it into a semi-clenched fist. She stopped for a moment. She couldn't do this, she didn't have the courage. But they were still crying, even though they seemed to have calmed down a little bit. Her curiosity, no, her _soul_ was begging to help them. She swallowed a lump in her throat before taking a deep breath and knocked twice on the door, calling out:

"Hello?"

Nothing. No response, no reaction, no nothing. The crying stopped immediately, but so did all other sounds in the house.

At least, right until the door opened.

Looking upwards with wide silvery eyes, the same eyes she remembers back from her assault, the person in front of her was about a third of her size. Right above their glowing pair of orbs were two shiny topaz colored gems that reflected the light shining in through the door opening. From their long pale hair that seemed to glister from the light, two orange horns sprouted upwards, ending in a yellow tip. Their multiple hands were wearing white gloves with an orange motif, levitating in midair pointing downwards, save for the one left hand still resting on the doorknob. Around their wide mouth were small, cute little orange fangs that looked mostly cosmetic, complementing their brown skin color. Their face looked a bit heated, most likely from crying and wiping off tears earlier. This was definitely her savior from earlier. He did not look as determined now as he did back then, now only showing signs of sadness and worry. He wore a green vest with a red-lined pattern and white buttons, complimented with a big olive cape that had a golden web like design. Like her, he had no legs and instead floated in midair, actually being second nature for the both of them.

Feeling the tenseness of the situation, she wanted to continue with her line of question. She didn't want to say anything stupid of course, but nothing fitting came to mind. She would have to carefully select the correct choice of words.

"U-uhm….are you alright?"

Instant regret invaded her thoughts. This was not the correct choice of words at all. She felt so awkward. So stupid. Her own thoughts scolded her; "Of course he isn't alright, you insensitive idiot! You've just finished spying on him, you know he's not!" Not only was the issue of listening in on a private conversation bad enough as is, but occupying their house and clearly overstepping boundaries, as a guest was unforgivable.

Yet he didn't seem to mind as he answered;

"Im…Im fine, yeah."

"…"

"…"

"…What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Your wounds. How are they…?"

Admittedly, she hadn't been paying attention to her own state for a while. Overstepping several codes of privacy seemed a bit more important to her at the time. Sure, her body was still screaming at every movement she did, but it had become tolerable. Or maybe she just got used to it. Either way her several wounds were still very much hurting, but not agonizingly so. Even so, she didn't get to come up with any sort of answer, as the person in front of her continued.

"Im sorry but…I need to take another look at them. Your bandages." A surprising request, but a sensible one at the same time. It's wasn't like she could check them herself.

"Right. Of course you can, thanks."

"Okay…Do you mind if I enter?"

"Oh uhm…sorry." She had been basically blocking the entrance the entire time, her size easily trumping the doors. It was clear this house wasn't built for someone her size. She moved out and to the side, slightly cringing at the pain flowing through her body. Maybe she had overestimated her recovery. The small arachnid entered what presumably was his room and flew closer to her. Carefully he grabbed one of the bandages on her abdomen and adjusted it, before tightening it and moving on to the next. His face was concentrated and serious, yet he insisted on avoiding eye contact completely. After checking up on most bandages, the only one left was the break on her wing. Suddenly, he finally looked her straight into her eyes with a furrowed brow, seeking her attention.

"Are you ok with me taking a different type of look at your wing? I'll be very careful, but it might sting a little."

Her eyes widened and sought downwards at the proposition. In truth, she really didn't want him, or anyone else, to even come near the broken wing. The sheer amount of pain she had to endure just to stand upright was already bad enough, so even the slightest touch might make her fall over. But she knew that it was necessary in the end. She nodded.

"Don't worry, im not gonna touch it. I'll just…." He reached out a hand and placed it right behind the bandage wrapped around the broken wing. She looked away and closed her eyes, anticipating, but not being prepared, for any pain that might spike. Suddenly, a dim shade of magenta light glowed into her closed eyelids. Turning her head towards the source, she was shocked to see some form of….energy sparking from her hosts hand behind her wing. The bandage was now lit up with a purple and turquoise glow, that made the covering cloth almost completely transparent. She could see her wing beneath the protective wrapping, how it was broken in several places, destroying the otherwise symmetrical lines. It hurt to look at, but at the same time she couldn't take her gaze away from it. The arachnid eventually let the flame die down and removed his hand from the bandage, floating down again to hover a little bit over the floor.

"Well….the good news is that most of your bruises and cuts seem to be healing just fine. I'm not sure about your wing though. It has several partial breaks and two fully broken sections. Other than that I think your recovery should be relatively fast."

Well that was certainly nice to hear. It was refreshing to have some actual good news for once after her past few days. It didn't exactly make her pains feel better, but the situation felt less pressuring and hopeless, which made her relax a little bit. Still, her main question still nagged at her. Who was the person standing in front of her? Why did they help her. Why is their voice the only memories she has left? She needed to know. The question had been killing her before…well before someone actually tried to kill her.

Realizing that she only would make it more awkward the more she waited to pop the question, she decided to take action, no matter how terribly she would word it. It had to be said sooner or later.

"…Thank you, but uhm….I hope you don't mind me asking this but…"

"..yeah?" He stood confused, yet steadfast. If he was hiding other emotions, she didn't notice.

"…..Do I…..know you from somewhere?"

This surprised him, clearly not taking it well. His overall facial expression fell greatly as his mouth opened a tiny bit to silently gasp, before his eyes started to look downwards with a sad look fixated on the floor. It was like he didn't believe what she just said to him. It made her doubt if it was the right choice to ask in the end. Eventually, he closed his eyes and swallowed a big lump in his throat before answering.

"Look…..there are a lot of things I have to tell you…about everything really. Do you….are you hungry? I was preparing some stuff for when you woke up, but…." He trailed out. Was he not finished? Maybe he got interrupted. Either way maybe a bite of anything could be just the thing she needed to get her energy back, or at least some of it.

"Some food sounds lovely, yeah."

He nodded in agreement before continuing "Good, then follow me. Try to not to overload yourself when walking…"

"Okay…"

She took a deep breath before attempting to go forward. But from the first figurative step she took, her body instantly crumbled and she fell over from sheer pain and agony. Air sucked in between gritted teeth as she tried to endure the pain, but it worked as well as her pathetic attempt at walking. She was weak, a waste of time. Utterly useless. Instantly reacting, her host sped to her before lifting her up from the ground.

"You _really_ shouldn't have left the bed you know. Here, let me help you." Using all 3 pair of hands, he held her in a supporting lock before helping her get off the ground again. Now with her standing up in a slumped over posture, he turned over to her side and helped her walk towards the door.

"Watch the frame, it's a bit low."

Ducking her head, they went through the door to enter a room of a much larger scale than the previous bedroom. Having a similar igloo-like structure as before, the main room had a wooden table with several chairs in the middle with two porcelain plates filled with breadcrumbs on it. In the corner of the room, a small kitchen complete with a stove and several drawers was hung up in a nice homely fashion. Other than that the room looked relatively empty. No flowers, no decorations, not even a nail in the wall for a future painting. Still practically carrying her, the arachnid led her to the side of the table before asking of her.

"Sit here, I'll prepare some tea."

* * *

After a couple of minutes of seeing her supposed savior warm up a kettle and packets of tealeaves with several spices, the boiling porcelain cup of flavored water was now in her hands, waiting to be slurped up at a nice, slow pace. The aroma of the steam that rose from the tea was an exotic one that seemed to reawaken her senses after a not-so-nice slumber. The smell was intoxicating in its overall consistence and how overall nice it smelled. Thanking him for the drink, she closed her eyes as she took a little sip of the tea, being careful not to scald her tongue. The taste was incredible, as if she was feeling the warmth of the sun on her taste buds, spreading out into an explosion of spices. Re-opening her eyes again, she glanced over at the obviously talented brewer and smiled at him in gratitude. It felt nice to do that. To smile. To share happiness instead of only sadness and pain.

But he returned the smile with a guilty one of his own. Again avoiding eye contact he spoke to her as if he was apologizing:

"…I'm glad you like it. Its licorice mixed with some ginger. It…used to be your favorite…"

This confused her a bit. It was clear that this person knew her, somehow, but know her as well as to know her preferences in food? In _tea_ nonetheless. How much more did he know about her?

He continued.

"…This will be a lot to take in but…It's for the best in the end. You deserve to know who you are after all."

"…..yeah?" Here it comes. Her identity, her name, herself. Without noticing, her grip on the cup tightened a little bit as she now was fully concentrated in anticipation. This was it. The moment her relatively short existence had been waiting for.

"….My name is Taranza…and yours is Sectonia. You are….was my best friend."

Sectonia. So that really was her name. She remember that knight calling her that. She didn't want to remember more about that event. Still, Taranza's shift from present to past tense concerned her. His tone wasn't exactly the most happy one either. She decided to press it.

"…I'm sorry, was?"

"I…might as well say it as it is." He took a quick sip of his tea. The wait was killing her. "There isn't any reason to keep it from you. Until today you've been considered…D-dead for almost two years."

…..Dead? Dead. It certainly explained many of the problems she had about her memory, but it did not remove the gravity of the situation. She had been dead for two years. How did she get back? Well she remembers why, but how and why did it work like that? Was it really that easy to just **come back from the dead?**

And how did she die? Did Taranza know? The details around her demise hadn't become any clearer too her, if those flashbacks and nightmares meant something to begin with. It wasn't something she wanted to know, but rather something she knew she had to find out sooner or later. Might as well do it now.

"...how exactly did I…?"

"I…." He trailed out. He definitely knew something. Did she sound too demanding? There was no reason to suspect him, but his behavior was…thought provoking to say the least. "…is it ok if I save that for later? I can tell you anything else you want to know but…that specific part is…it's hard for me to talk about. Is that okay?"

She understood, at least from an emotional point of view. She kept the question in the back of her head as she nodded. The past was in the past after all, might as well ask about some of her more _lively_ qualities.

"That's fine. If you don't want to talk about, who am I to force you? I would be a pretty bad guest…..or friend if I did."

He looked up again to her eyes and smiled. It was a rather nice smile, if she had to judge. Of course, she had only seen a grand number of _two_ in total, her own being fifty percent of them, but it was nice to make someone happy instead of scared or angry for once. In truth, she was longing for that prospect, to have someone to talk with.

A friend.

"T-thank you, really. If there is anything, anything at all that you want to know, I will tell you! Promise!"

His sudden eagerness surprised her "W-well…"

"Oh! I'm sorry for getting carried away a bit there. It's just…nice seeing you again, really."

She couldn't blame him, easily seeing herself in the same situation. If she had remembered anything about friends to begin with. As for questions, she had so many of them she didn't know where to start. With perhaps a bit too much eagerness she started to pry.

"So uh….What about where we are right now? I mean- I know we are at your house….I think it's your house, but…." She already messed up. She was tumbling over her own words, trying her hardest to form a single good question. She felt like a dunce, an awkward outcast. Perhaps her social skills had veined a bit the past…two years or so.

However, Taranza simply gave her a hearty laugh before answering.

"It's fine, I know what you mean. This is actually my house, yeah. I moved in here a couple of weeks ago after living at a friend's house for a while…that's his bed you slept in by the way, we momentarily borrowed it for you."

"We?"

"Ah right, should have told you. I couldn't carry you all the way from the main road to the house on my own, so I got…..Meta Knight to help me."

Meta Knight….was he the same knight that attacked her? Why would he help her after almost killing her? From what she could remember, they had a decently deep and rough voice as well…

"Was…Was this knight the one you argued with earlier?"

"…..Yes, he was. I'm sorry you had to hear all that…um a-anything else?"

"Hm? Oh, um…where are we right now? Like as in country, city or…something similar."

"The kingdom we are in right now is called "Dreamland." It's currently ruled by King Dedede, which, coincidently, is the friend I lived at."

"Oh…I see" It clicked for her all of the sudden. The strange name on the sign made a tiny bit more sense now.

"He is….a bit full of himself, but he's got his heart in the right place. I actually mistook him for someone else completely when I met him first."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I certainly didn't treat him like royalty that time, that's for sure. He forgave me for it though. Helped me set up my new home here too."

"It's a very nice home."

"You think so? It looks pretty boring so far, at least in my opinion."

She partially understood where he was coming from. Although the walls had a nice, relaxing indigo color, they seemed a bit empty without any form of painting, drawers or decorations. Taking a quick look around the room with a curious gaze, the rest of it was just as empty with even a few cardboard boxes sitting in a corner.

"Oh right, those are just some old papers, don't mind them too much."

"Papers? What for?"

Diving for his tea again, he took an unusual long sip before sighing from the taste and answering. "Just some work, really. Some long and boring work."

"Are they like the papers on your desk?"

"Hm? Oh right, those. Yeah similar work, same job." He took a finishing sip of his tea, leaving his cup empty of contents. "I really need to tidy up now that I've got a long-term guest."

Job? This was interesting. Not to undermine his size or anything…he was probably average size here, compared to her at least, but for some reason she had forgotten the whole aspect of working. Maybe the magic, misery and murderous swordsmen had distracted her.

Anyway, she decided to refrain asking him about it. She had already spied on him, wanting more personal details would be rude.

"Long-term?"

"Well that's…if you want to stay here of course. I won't keep you here if you don't want to but…"

He stopped, looked up at her again and glanced over several parts of her body. His eyes grew progressively more worried for each bandage and bruise he studied. She read his thoughts. She was in nowhere near of a stable enough condition to wander around like earlier.

"It's just…I'm just worried about you Sectonia."

As soon as his words ended, her mind erupted into a searing pain. Her hands instantly reached for her head to clench it in a tight grip, dropping the expensive porcelain teacup to the ground causing it to shatter into several pieces. Those words. Those exact words. It was what she heard at the lake, but…clearer, refined. Complete. She felt her body ricochet from hitting something. She had fallen over, now writhing on the floor from her intense headache. Pictures had begun flashing in her mind. Was her memory coming back to her? The images became clearer. The scene before her was a barely lit dark room with a small figure looking at the ground, fiddling with their hands. They spoke, but no sound came out. The only thing heard was the words of the voice. The voice of her past. Taranza's voice. Her mind could barely hold on any longer, now swaying dangerously close to unconsciousness again…

But she forced herself to stay awake. Through all the pains she had endured recently, her mind must have grown either resistant or morbidly used to it. The vision suddenly started to fade, her headache now declining.

Moreover, she felt herself embraced.

"… _..!...nia!_ Please, snap out of it!"

Her sight returned to normal, causing her to gasp loudly. She found her back being slightly lifted up from the hard ground. Taranza was now right by her side, meeting her wide and colorful eyes with slim, glistering platinum ones. He had raised her off the ground with two pairs of hands, holding her in a usual resting position. After taking several short breaths, she began speaking.

"I'm….I'm alright….I've just…had it with fainting." Her breathing now was slowing down, now feeling as if she could fall over again at any minute.

Loosening the grip on her and looking into her tired eyes with wide ones of his own, his worried expression lessened before closing his lids again and exhaling a long sigh of relief. When his white orbs reopened, it was now decorated with a serious face, determinate and sure of what to do. He was collected.

"You…You really scared me there. What exactly happened?"

"I…I'm not sure, I…I think I might have…seen something?" Whatever it was, it was perplexing, to say the least. This was her first real memory. The first time she got any clue about anything of her past, and she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Perhaps she would be more frustrated about it if she wasn't feeling like she was dying. Her host took a moment to think before answering her.

"…I see. This might sound…strict, but I think it would be best if you rested again. Whatever just happened there almost took all of your energy."

She did feel pretty tired. Sure, it wasn't exactly _late_ but she had been up for a good two hours without almost passing out, at least until now. That was decently impressive, at least in her own deprived eyes.

"….Alright…"

Lightly setting her down on the wooden floor, Taranza released his grip on her to then levitate gently over her. His six individual hands all opened up and extended outwards, clearly preparing to pick her up.

"I'm gonna try to carry you…..It might tickle a bit at first."

Barely managing to nod, she observed in wonder and confusion as his hands started to glow with a faint pink glow. He held true to his words, as her body tensed up from a bolt of a weak ticklish sensation traveled throughout her body, ending in the middle of her chest. The next moment she felt being pulled upwards by an invisible force, slightly floating mid-air. Gently levitating through the door frame and then the subsequent bedroom again, she suddenly felt the grip on her grow substantially weaker, causing her to slowly drop a bit of altitude.

"Sorry, I have to have a pair of hands free for the duvet."

Dragging her upwards and onto the soft mattress, Taranza carefully adjusted her head to rest on one of the colorful and soft pillows. Fine-tuning the finishing touch, the faint light on his hands weakened before dissolving completely. Floating over to the side of the enormous bed, he grabbed the edges of the warm blanket and slowly wrapped her bigger form in the warm cloth.

"There we are. Now, I don't have a _strict_ plan for tomorrow, but I do have something in mind for the day. But please, rest as much as possible or until you get bored! I will be home for the entirety of the day, so if you ever need me for something, just call out, okay?"

"….Right…"

Giving her a wide smile, Taranza turned around and slowly went for the other room. Even though she understood he wanted to give her some space and privacy, she didn't really want him to leave. So far he had been the only one to make her feel appreciated and listened to her. And there was the topic of her past too. It was…

"…Taranza?"

Even though her voice was barely a whisper by now, his attention was still caught with ease. Turning around with an attentive and open-minded look, he let her continue. She struggled with what to say next. She hadn't really been thinking before opening her mouth, but there was just so much to say. She wanted to compliment his tea. To apologize for intruding on his privacy. She wanted to thank him for protecting her earlier. To tell him how ashamed she was for ever forgetting about her only friend. But her mind was blank, growing groggy. She didn't know which of the millions of thoughts she wanted to tell him.

"….Yes?"

"…uhm….I'm…sorry about your teacup…"

Looking at her with a tiny bit of bewilderment for just a second, he shook his head before answering; "Oh that old thing? Never mind that. That stuff was made to be expendable…"

She looked down, partially out of shame for the antique cup, partially out of shame for apologizing for something so trivial. Shifting herself onto her side, she bluntly hit her head on her pillow, before sighing decently loud.

"Im…just gonna sleep now…okay?"

"Fine by me" He said, chuckling for himself about the display of the regal figure in front of him acting a bit scatterbrained. Once again turning for the living room, he grabbed the doorknob and slowly began closing the door, leaving it just slightly ajar.

"Sleep tight." Was the final words he whispered before closing the door, leaving her alone in the mediocrely lit bedroom.

She didn't have any dreams that night.

* * *

 **AN: Hello everyone, i am sorry for the next chapter taking so long. This chapter has been long overdue and i am sorry for taking this long to post it. Nevertheless, thank you for sticking with this story so far. I have updated the structure of the previous chapters, so they should be a bit more neat to look at.**

 **For my first reviewer: Thank you so very much for your kind words. I hope this chapter will satisfy your needs.**

 **Sidetrack, i've noticed i have pretty much doubled the total wordcount per chapter, with every chapter i post. I believe it should stay at this level for a while now though.**


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